Bitstamp exchange hacked, $5M worth of bitcoin stolen

Summary:The European bitcoin exchange suspends its service after it was hacked, ZDNet can confirm. Less than 19,000 bitcoins were stolen from an operational wallet.

Bitstamp prices plummeted after news of the breach broke (Screenshot: ZDNet)

European bitcoin exchange Bitstamp suspended trading Monday after one of its active, operational bitcoin storage wallets was "compromised" over the weekend.

In a statement on its site, Bitstamp warned users not to deposit any Bitcoin to previously issued addresses.

The popular bitcoin trading site, said to be the world's third busiest bitcoin exchange amounting for 6 percent of all bitcoin transactions, said that a "small fraction" of customer bitcoins are maintained in online systems, adding that any compromised bitcoins can be recovered from its "cold" offline storage reserve.

Co-founder and chief executive Nejc Kodric said in a tweet that the bulk of Bitstamp's bitcoin reserves are in cold storage, and are "completely safe."

The site continued in its statement that it will "return to service."

Late on Monday, Bitstamp confirmed in an emailed statement to ZDNet that "less than 19,000 bitcoins" were stolen from the company's operational wallet.

Kodric said the bitcoins held with Bitstamp prior to the temporary suspension of the company's service are "completely safe and will be honored in full."

The market value of 19,000 bitcoins represents roughly $5 million. (We reported this figure earlier, details of which can be found below.) There has been no other comment as of yet from Bitstamp or Kodric.

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Bitstamp exchange hacked, $5M worth of bitcoin stolen